On behalf of the Partnership for Sustainable Low Carbon Transport1 and various undersigned agencies, multilateral development banks, non-governmental organizations, associations, and businesses, the following statement is submitted for consideration as input to the compilation document which helps to develop the zero draft of the declaration for the Rio+20 Global Conference on Sustainable Development.

Many recent statements recognize the vital importance of transportation in advancing sustainable development, including the Bangkok 2020 Declaration, endorsed by 22 Asian countries,2 the Bogota Declaration, endorsed by 9 Latin American nations,3 as well as the Report of the Secretary General to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development 19th Session on Policy Options and Actions for Expediting Progress in Implementation: Transport.4 Building on these declarations, we urge the CSD, governments, and others to recognize sustainable transport as a sustainable development goal, in and of itself, and to:

2. Adopt targets and indicators to measure progress towards sustainable transport and promote the development and adoption of control plans for transport-related pollution: A. Ensure global transport greenhouse gas emissions and transport sector fossil fuel consumption peak by 2020 and are cut by at least 40 percent by 2050 compared to 2005 levels,5 while ensuring transport contributes to timely attainment of healthful air quality in all cities; Indicator A1: Annual fossil fuel consumption per person for personal transport and annual fossil fuel consumption per ton for freight Indicator A2: Annual transport fossil fuel consumption by mode and related greenhouse gases Indicator A3: Transport-related pollution contributions and number of days cities are in non-attainment of World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines for key pollutants including Particulate Matter (PM)-10 and PM-2.5, Nitrogen Dioxide, and Ozone Indicator A4: Share of passengers and freight trips and passenger kilometers and ton kilometers by mode and distance-averaged vehicle load factors by mode Indicator A5: Vehicle fleet size, average fuel efficiency and total vehicle-km traveled by mode

B. Support the Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011-20) and cut traffic-related deaths in half by 2025

C. Ensure universal access to sustainable transport though support for safe, affordable public transport and safe, attractive facilities for walking and bicycling. Indicator C1: Share of passenger trips and passenger kilometers traveled by public transport, walking, cycling, paratransit, car, motorcycle Indicator C2: Daily time spent in travel and share of household income spent on transport by poorest 20% Indicator C3: Proportion of urban roadways with safe walking & cycling facilities Indicator C4: Proportion of population within 1 km of public transport Indicator C5: Ratio of traffic deaths amongst wealthiest 20% to poorest 20% of population

3. Strengthen institutional arrangements to advance sustainable transport: A. United Nations: Enhance UN agency coordination around critical sustainable transport tasks to improve effectiveness in global agenda setting, capacity building, data collection and monitoring of progress, technology transfer, regional development, and cooperation with other sectors: this includes amongst others UNDP, UNEP, UN-HABITAT, UN-DESA, UNCRD and the UN regional commissions. Following the examples of UN-Energy and UN-Water, consider the establishment of UN Transport. B. Development Agencies and Banks: Adopt and monitor (a) sustainable transport targets, (b) goals to advance equitable access for all, and report on these targets and goals. Increase support for sustainable transport capacity building and transport sector climate resilience and adaptation. C. Multi-lateral Carbon Finance Instruments: Foster transport sector contributions to CO2 mitigation roughly equal to its 23% of energy-related carbon burden by improving transport sector access to carbon finance with sector-appropriate appraisal requirements for CDM, GEF, and CIF funds, and a transport sector window to the Green Climate Fund.7 D. Enhance Private Sector Participation: Foster public private partnerships and implement new business models in support of sustainable transport. E. Capacity Development: Strengthen both current voluntary multi-stakeholder partnerships on sustainable transport as well as intergovernmental processes on transport.

4. Endorse and encourage voluntary country actions for sustainable transport:

A. Double the mode share of urban public transport by 2025 relative to 20108; boost walking, cycling, and ridesharing; and aim for a drive-alone light-duty motor vehicle mode share of one-fourth or less.

D. Mitigate adverse impacts caused by the provision of improved transport and fairly compensate those displaced by transport infrastructure improvements.

E. Adopt new road and urban design standards to prioritize safety, universal design, and use of sustainable transport modes, with incentives, requirements, and funding to spur timely implementation of standards by municipalities. F. Encourage and help fund implementation of sustainable transport and Land-use plans for all cities emphasizing transit-oriented development G. Foster institutional capacity building related to sustainable transport and urban development H. Foster opportunities for public-private partnerships and innovative financing for sustainable transport and urban development.

K. Identify and invest in strategies to enhance transport sector climate adaptation and resilience.
The Need for Action in the Global Transport Sector at Rio +20: Rapid global economic development and urbanization are fueling massive growth in the demand for transportation. Current practices of meeting increased transport demand mostly by growing automobile fleets and road network capacity are unsustainable. A study for the UN Environment Program estimates that transport-related externality costs in developing countries may range as high as 10% of GDP.9

 Some 1.3 million people die in road accidents annually. Of those who die, 9 in 10 are from low- and middle-income countries and about half are pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists, drawn disproportionately from among the poor. Fatalities are projected to rise 80 percent by 2020 in low- and middle-income countries (just as they fall by 30 percent in high-income countries),10 at an economic cost to the developing world of up to US $100 billion a year (equivalent to all current annual overseas aid from OECD countries).11

 Transport accounts for one-fourth to more than 80 percent of various local air pollutants in cities that cause and exacerbate respiratory illness, heart disease, premature death, and cancer. Air pollution is estimated to cause approximately 2 million premature deaths worldwide per year, with more than half of this burden borne by people in developing countries.12

 Studies by the IPCC have suggested that cuts of greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 50 to 85 percent below year 2000 levels will be needed to limit the potential for catastrophic climate change.13 Yet unless comprehensive changes in policy are made, car ownership will triple to over 2 billion, trucking will quadruple, and transport-related greenhouse gases will grow by 80 percent.14 A 2-degree Celsius climate protection goal certainly cannot be met without a considerable contribution to CO2 mitigation by the transport sector.

A study by the United Nations Environment Programme shows that sustainable, low carbon, transport initiatives that reallocate just 0.34 per cent of global GDP in support of public transport infrastructure and efficiency improvements to road vehicles have the potential to cut the volume of road vehicles required to support equal economic activity by about a third, diminish the use of fossil fuel by up to a third, and boost transport sector employment by 10 percent.15 As the transport sector already directly provides 5 to 8 percent of a typical country?s total paid employment, with much higher indirect value added and employment in related sectors, there is significant economic development potential from pursuit of such initiatives.16 The impact of these changes in the structure of transport services on climate change would be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by 68 percent below business as usual trends (and about 36 percent below 2010 levels.
16 percent more jobs per unit of investment than new road and bridge construction.

The technologies and policies needed to obtain these sustainable transport benefits are well known, have proven to be effective, and often come at a small or even net-negative cost when accounting for such factors as fuel cost savings and other co-benefits. Yet they do require a commitment to concerted action. Because the transport sector is uniquely critical to all the three pillars of sustainable development ? economy, society, and environment ? it must be addressed by a sector-specific SDG developed around the above targets. Lacking such a goal, neither development assistance nor carbon-finance programs have focused effectively on many available low-cost opportunities for progress in the transport sector.

The Broader Outcomes of an Agreement on the Proposed Transport-Specific SDG: Achieving the proposed SDG necessitates a global commitment to a set of best practices and strategies contained in new sustainable transport paradigm, known collectively as ?Avoid, Shift, Improve? (ASI). The ASI Best Practices focus on avoiding unnecessary motorized trips with smarter planning, pricing, and technology; shifting trips to more sustainable modes through price incentives, better information, and improved service quality; and improving vehicle efficiency with cleaner fuels, improved network management, and more efficient vehicle technology. All the elements of ASI have been demonstrated at scale. Successful examples of this include Bus Rapid Transit, bicycle-sharing and bikeway networks, integrated Land-use/transport planning, parking limitations and management, smart parking and car-sharing, vehicle registration quotas, congestion pricing, vehicle emission standards, and intermodal freight and logistics systems.

Prepared by the Partnership on Sustainable Low Carbon Transport in Consultation with and Endorsed by:  Asian Development Bank  Bridging the Gap Initiative  Centro de Transport Sustenable, Mexico